Since Jason was now firmly settled on his ignore the feelings plan of action, he didn't feel guilty at all showing up at Dick's place with a large paper bag of groceries.

"Oh— hi Jay! What's that?"

"How much of your diet is pizza and cereal? Seventy percent? Eighty?" Jason asked as he stepped past Dick into the apartment.

Dick frowned. "What are you, Alfred?"

"That's what I thought you'd say," Jason said, going into the kitchen and setting the bag on the counter, starting to unpack the ingredients. "Fucking tragic. Which is why I'm making you dinner."

Dick settled on a stool at the bar that overlooked the kitchen and leaned his cheek on his fist. "You could've just said that; you didn't have to drag me."

Jason grinned, not looking up from the food he was still unpacking. "Well now where's the fun in that? Also you deserve it. You're gonna get fucking scurvy or something."

Dick rolled his eyes. "I eat fruit! Sometimes! And vegetables! Pizza and cereal are just easier."

"Mhmm." Jason said, setting aside the empty bag, pushing up his sleeves, and washing his hands. "You got a cutting board around here?"

Dick chattered away happily to him as he cooked, occasionally stopping to direct him toward some cooking implement or other, and Jason found himself relaxing into it. He put the pan in the oven for the chicken to finish cooking and lowered the flame under the couscous on the stove, and then picked up the wine he'd used to deglaze the pan and held it up toward Dick. Dick nodded, not pausing his gossip about Tim and Damian's latest petty argument, and Jason searched through the cupboards, smiling faintly, until he found two wine glasses.

Maybe he enjoyed Dick's endless chatter a little too much, but it was entertaining and just...endearing. For all that Jason would have thought it would be something he'd be annoyed by, he found himself actually interested — a little blown away by how much the man could talk, sure — but fuck if Jason didn't still want to hear more. God, he wanted to hear Dick's opinion on everything. 

Jason poured them each a glass of wine and passed one to Dick, who took it with a smile, and then Jason took a sip of his own before abandoning it to make a spinach salad and a simple vinaigrette for it. After he was done, he checked the time on the couscous and the chicken, which both still had several minutes left, and leaned back against the counter with his wine to watch Dick as he talked. Oh he really hoped his heart eyes weren't too obvious.

Dick took another sip of his wine. "I really can't believe that she actually still thinks that, seriously, there's no way she's that dense. She has to know. God that smells so fucking good, is it gonna be done soon?"

"Five minutes. Now why do you think Raven has to know Kory's wanted to bang her forever? Maybe she is that dense. I didn't know and Kory's not usually tight-lipped about that stuff."

Dick blinked and then his face spread into a huge, dazzling smile. "You were actually listening?"

"Yeah...?"

"Normally people just tune me out. I know it has to get annoying."

Jason frowned. "It's not annoying. Keep talking." He turned to open the oven and check on the chicken.

"Oh, well, just if you saw it when they're together," he continued hesitantly, before starting to pick up steam back into his previous fast-paced chatter, "I mean it's subtle by Kory standards, but like, by human standards it's the most obvious shit ever, I mean…" 

Dick continued on and on happily, and Jason gave a (totally not lovesick at all) sigh. God, he would pay to listen to Dick talk for the rest of his fucking life.

• ◇ •

As soon as Jason left, Dick was calling Wally.

"Help, help, help," he said as soon as Wally picked up.

"What?"

"He fuckin'… I'm gonna die, Wally, this is how I die. This is actually how I die."

"What are you freaking out about now? Is it this person you've decided you're in love with?"

"I'm not in love with him, I'm just into him, okay? And he just fucking came over and he— he made me dinner, like nice dinner, like with wine dinner and I'm so fucking confused."

Wally was quiet for a moment. "Sounds like he's trying to woo you."

"No, but no that's the thing is I don't know, I can't fucking tell because he's just fucking like this. Like he just, he never tells me when he's coming over, he just shows up and it's usually very casual, but this time he just showed up with groceries and started lecturing me about how all I eat is cereal and pizza and how I'm gonna get scurvy — which I'm not before you say anything — and so I, I don't fucking know. Like. He's just like this. I can't tell if this is just his regular grouchy way of being nice or— but, like, like this should mean something though, like, he fucking wined and dined me!"

There was crunching on the other side of the phone as Wally presumably ate something. "Dude. I don't know what to tell you, I wasn't there. Maybe it does? Maybe not?"

Dick let out a deep, dramatic sigh. "Wally, Wally, he fucking listened to me. I was doing that thing where there's nothing happening and I can't shut the fuck up even though I know I'm being annoying, and I know everybody just tunes me out at this point and I don't blame them, but I asked about dinner and he fucking redirected me back to what I'd been saying and he'd been listening, and he told me I wasn't annoying."

"Oookay well now that makes me think maybe he really is into you. No offence, but I think that might be necessary for that."

"You think?"

"Dude, I don't know the secrets of the universe. Maybe! Who is this guy anyway?"

Dick sighed again. "Jay."

"Jay?! Like your— like Jason Todd Jay?" Dick pulled the phone away from his ear slightly with the force of the exclamation.

"Yeah."

"Jesus, Dick, you sure know how to pick 'em. Couldn't pick someone uncomplicated, could you?"

"Well I didn't go out of my way to pick him! He just, I don't know, he's sweet."

"...Sweet." Wally repeated incredulously.

"Yes!"

"That's a word I can confidently say I have never heard anyone use about Jason fucking Todd."

"Well maybe they should. He is!" Dick insisted.

"...Okay, Dickie. I'll, uh, I'll just take your word for it." 

Well he didn't have to sound so disbelieving.

"Whatever. You think I should keep flirting with him?"

"Keep flirting with him? What've you been doing?"

"Just...trying to get him to like me instead of just tolerating me. Proximity breeds affection and all that," he said cagily.

"Dick…"

"Just I've been making sure we've been seeing each other regularly for about two months. And I've managed to arrange some light cuddling a few times."

"When you say 'managed to arrange cuddling'—?" 

Dick cut him off, not wanting to answer since he knew Wally would probably judge him for essentially flinging himself at Jason repeatedly. "And I showed him one of my pole dance routines, but that was just once."

"Dick!"

Well there was just no winning with Wally, was there? Judgy judgy.

"What? What would you have done?" Dick asked exasperatedly.

Wally started laughing. "You're so fucking horrible."

"What?"

"Dick, if he's into you at all, you already have him in the bag and fucking pole dancing for the poor schmuck probably qualified as attempted murder. If he's not, he's probably not gonna be at this point. I wasn't even interested in you and your stupid fucking pole dancing still managed to be my bi awakening."

Dick laughed. "Yeah and I'm never gonna let you forget it. But also he's not you, what if it's not enough?"

"Dick. Trust me. You've been hanging out one on one for two months? If he's ever gonna be into you, he already is."

"Fine. Fine, okay." Dick sighed. "Thanks I guess."

"Mhm, love you, talk to you later."

"Love you, bye."

Dick hung up and turned his phone back and forth between his hands. He wasn't entirely sure if he believed Wally, but part of him was starting to feel a little hopeful that maybe Jason was interested in him too. Maybe.